Halleluiah! Our high tunnel greenhouse is assembled and ready for us to play in the soil. Soon, we’ll be growing fruits and vegetables even if it is snowing outside. Taproot Farm received a generous grant from the WV Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to construct a High Tunnel (unheated greenhouse) on the south side of our garden. It has a metal frame and a skin made of 2 layers polyethylene. Once our barn solar panels are installed, we’ll have electricity to power a fan that will keep air pumped between the two plastic layers providing additional insulation.

Our 26′ X 48′ structure from Pucketts Greenhouses will be big enough for 4-6 rows of crops with room on the side for growing strawberries vertically. The larger the system, the more thermal mass is stored (warm air) and a single layer of poly cover may provide one hardiness zone of protection while a second low row cover close to the crops may provide a second zone of protection. We are considered a zone 6 growing zone . In the high tunnel we’ll be able to plant our crops as if we were located in a warmer climate- like North Carolina. Our farm apprentice, Alexor, will be manager of the high tunnel. He was happy to answer questions about the new growing laboratory: What are the benefits of a high tunnel? How is it different than a greenhouse? The benefits of a high tunnel are wind and frost protection during the colder times of the year. One of the differences between a high tunnel and a green house is that greenhouses traditionally were covered with glass panels and were used to grow exotic plants out of season with heat supplementation. A high tunnel, pipe framed and covered with a sheet of UV resistant clear plastic, is often used without added heat with great success. Here is a helpful, short video by Iowa Extension Agency about Crop Production in a High Tunnel. How did you prepare the ground for planting? How will you water the plants if they don’t get rain? Ground preparation is simple: promote life! There are countless microscopic living organisms in a cubic inch of healthy, pesticide free soil. The goal as a gardener is to allow that microscopic ecosystem to thrive. Like us, these microbes need oxygen, food, and attention. Check out a video clip of the hogs helping prepare the soil.

Right now we are letting the pigs aerate and feed the soil for us as they add organic matter. We will follow them up with chickens to clean up any seeds the pigs missed. Then we’ll create narrow pathways between planting rows, trying to minimize compaction in the beds. That’s just one approach: there are countless ways to support the life in the soil that’s needed for great success. We will water the plants with PH neutral well water, fed to each bed through a simple drip irrigation system to save lots of time and soil disturbance. We received funding to install the system because drip irrigation is another efficient, environment-friendly management practice that WV wants to encourage. Other options would be rain water collection uphill from the site, using gravity and a hose to your advantage. That system would not work so easily in the winter during a freeze, but that would be OK because watering in the high tunnel during the winter is minimal! How does a high tunnel work? Do the plants freeze in cold seasons or cook in warm seasons? A high tunnel keeps most frosts at bay in our climate. One way to be successful with high tunnel gardening in the cold seasons is to plant winter hardy crops. I’ve learned there are many crops that thrive in cold weather, and can even tolerate frosts! To name a few: carrots, spinach, turnips, chard, beets, kale, onions. In the warm seasons, you can grow heat loving plants like tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers and provide ventilation on scorching days by opening the door(s) and rolling up/down the sides.

What will you grow in it? Can you grow things in all 4 seasons? In February we will begin planting our cool-weather crops like : Carrots, spinach, lettuces, Asian greens, kale, onions, leeks, peas, strawberries. We’ll have a headstart on growing summer vegetables and will plant those in the spring in the protection of our high tunnel. I do believe we will grow things in the high tunnel year round. I will report back on that as the seasons pass One idea is to grow some herbs and heat-loving crops in pots in the main garden and then movethem to the high tunnel as the days grow shorter late summer. This will give us a month or more of harvest from plants that may otherwise stop producing in early fall. What resources do you suggest for people who might like to grow in a high tunnel? Elliot Coleman is our favorite- he has written several books on the exciting topic of four-season gardening. I highly recommend any of his books for a bounty of ideas and inspiration. You do not have to have a large high tunnel to grow year-round. There are many ways to build inexpensive small structures for growing plenty of high quality food year round in any climate in the US.

We have several hoop houses (low tunnels) in the main garden now. They a great way to protect plants from frost and extend your growing season by several months in spring and fall. We are excited, though, that now we’ll be able to walk right in to the high tunnel instead of yanking on the sides of a low hoop house in the ice to get to our produce. Hope to see you for a farm-fresh salad in February!